Hacking advice please. (A WWYD)

Nickles1973

Nickles1973

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I have had an issue when hacking my horse recently and I could do with some thoughts on how I should handle it.
Like many these days there are limited hacking options around me. And since the ground has now got very wet on one route I could take I am now reduced to having to use the road.
In one direction I only have to do a small amount of road before I can ride around a couple of fields. Which is fine but since I have taken G's shoes off it isn't doing much to condition his hooves.
The other direction takes me on a 30 minute route which is all on the road but at least half is residential side streets. I like to try and do this route at least once or twice per week.
The problem is that on the way home I have to pass 3 things which are all very close together which George finds stressful. The last 2 hacks I have had problems with drivers being upset with the way I am handling getting George past our bogey spot and I'm not sure if I am in the wrong or not?
The 3 things are,
1. A large sign by a drove entrance advertising a local buisness. (It's been there 3+ years and George has always been wary of it)
2. A very helpful person has dumped a couple of plastic patio chairs in a hedge on the other side of the drove. (Not been there all that long but George refuses to pass by without side stepping further into the road)
3. Behind the hedge containing the patio chairs is a herd of cows. These arrived about a month ago and like most other horses I know George is wary of them.
So what happens is, as we approach our bogey place I feel George become tense and start to move into the middle of the road.
Now I know I could try to force him to keep to the side but this risks him getting stupid and suddenly jumping to the right potentialy causing an accident. Or as I have been doing, checking for traffic coming up behind and if there is, asking them to slow down to allow me to let George move away from the scary monsters and then leg yeilding back to the kerb and waving the cars past.
The last 2 times this has resulted in one person coming along side me and shouting at me that I should learn to control my effing horse. Another person has undertaken me at speed whilst giving me discusting looks and gesticulating that I shouldn't be allowed on the roads.
If I am in the wrong then I suppose I should just give up trying to hack untill next year when the ground has dried out. (Hopefully)
Or else what should I do to handle the situation differently? I am phoning the council tomorrow to ask about getting the patio chairs removed but there isn't much I can do about the road sign or the cows.
 
Can you put him in shoulder in right as you ride past the scary things so you are pushing him away from the traffic but he is bent away from the objects? I would not take my horse out into the middle of the road as all you need is a speeding motorbike or something like that and you could be in big trouble.
Also, do you do any spook-busting in the school? I appreciate that you can't recreate the exact scenarios but the scarier situations you can create the better. First go in there and do groundwork then school around them with the aim of him listening to you and being precise and off your aids. I would ride over tarps, have flappy noisy bangy things, dustbins, old patio furniture (try freecycle), umbrellas... The aim is that he should trust you and listen to you in any unpredictable scenario.
As for the cows - do you know any farmer who would let you introduce your horse to his cows? I livery at a beef farm and ride in the fields so my horse has to open and close gates, using her body to block herds of cattle from going through the gate while I am leaning down faffing around with the padlock. If you could arrange to ride in a farmer's field like that (possibly for a bottle) try grazing quietly gradually approaching the herd as your horse gets more confident. I find our cows are quite curious about horses but anxious about people so I tend not to approach them on foot. My pony loves them now and likes to herd them!
 
If you are going to use the roads in my view you need to be able to do this as safely as possible - both to you and other road users.

Clearly the current situation isn't that safe so needs some work to redress the balance.

Do I deduce correctly that you are quite central in the road when passing one of your bogey points (given that some pillock undertook you)? If so this can't continue.

Firstly is there a quieter time of day when you can try to work around these points without risking disrupting the traffic as much and can have more time to work with your horse around them?

Secondly I suspect you are expecting something to happen at these points because it always has - which your horse is picking up on through your riding and so he then thinks there's something to be wary of and you are in a viscious circle. You need to ride him past them more proactively than this. Ride up to the points, don't give him an inch use whathever method to you is usual when you are moving him forward (for me it's legs) and give very loud voice commands "walk on..." etc. as he's walking on lots of loud praise. Try not to allow him to stop at all. If he usually turns his head towards the obstacles then keep him straight or turned away from them. Things aren't as scary when they can't see them if they are silent too (hence the use of blinkers with race horses/driven horses). Don't let him get the full turned head view of them at all. That is one of the most scary way for a horse to see things if they are going to spook.

If at all unsure of any of the above I'd either ask someone who's riding ability you trust to ride him past a few times (he's likely to ride differently for another person) without allowing him to stop or do it on foot a few times either long reining or in hand or get someone to walk past with you and if necessary lead him at the said points.
 
I would just remove the chairs myself and take them to the dump.

If there is a quiet time with hardly any traffic, could you wait for no cars to be around and then try getting him to go briskly (trotting maybe) past the sign without going over to the centre of the road?

What does he do if you get off and lead him past?

ETA. Chestnut mare lived on a farm with cows for three years and she's still a twonk with new cows because they are different cows. She goes past them safely enough, you just get all the huffing, puffing, snorting and weird creepy walk thing that she does past scary stuff. *sigh*
 
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We have a bogey spot on one of our hacks - it's a dairy farm that we have hacked past regularly for the last 4 years - it has lots of machinery, 2 working dogs tied up outside, cows in the barn and when it's windy the old farm buildings make some amount of noise.

I've just persevered - he used to plant, spin, reverse, rear - and typically, even though its a quite road, we'd always encounter traffic at this spot.

There were times when I had to get off to lead him past - other times it would require a lot of leg and holding him in my hand to get him to "bounce" past.

He also tenses up when he knows we're approaching it - I try to distract him - leg yield, flexing etc but he's still always got one eye on it but is much better now - he always gives a huge sigh of relief when we pass it!

Keep at it - he will get better!
 
Thank you for the replies. All good points. However, I do go at the quietest time possible. My horse is not spooky in general. We confidently go past pretty much anything and he doesn't flinch at the biggest lorrys or tractors. I have worked quite a lot on spook busting in the school but I find this doesn't always mean that he won't be scared of something when we are out.
Case in point he used to be really worried about wheelie bins on bin day. So I brought a wheelie bin onto the yard. He didn't pay the slightest attention to it. I started getting him to stand next to the wheelie bins in the drive while I mounted and dismouted. Again he didn't care about them at all. But will he calmly walk past a wheelie bin in the road on bin day? No. Because in his mind it wasn't there the day before so it's alien to him. (or that's my interpretation) So we don't go out on bin day on our own anymore.
The road sign in question has been in situ for the whole time I have owned him and it is so large it can be seen from about 400 yards away and if we are in company he doesn't even look at it. The thing is one of my hacking partners partners pony is lame and my other hacking buddy now works full time so we are never at the yard at the same time to be able to go out together.
Hopefully if the council will remove the rubbish from the hedge this will reduce his anxiety and I can try to get him more used to the cows by going to have a look at them from the other side of the field.
Either that or I might just give up!
 
My girl's similar to Faracat's: familiar cows are friends to be sniffed at in a friendly fashion. Move them to another field and they are suddenly evil scary devil-bovines. This applies to most other new things, especially if they're small and insignificant :rolleyes:. I'm going to don my tin hat and go against the grain and say just get off (you said you did this with the wheelie bins), calmly lead him past. You're happy, he's happy, traffic's happy and everyone's safe. When safe to do so, get back on. I don't see this as a riding no-no; I see it as a lesser of several evils and I'd rather do it if I sense a situation coming on, not least my nerves.
 
Just move the chairs yourself, instantly one out of three monsters down!

I think getting him to trot past it at quiet times would help, and practise controlling sideways movement, I use a whip held on the shoulder as a reminder. It is a pain as you have to weigh up training effectively and getting in the way, personally I prioritise getting out of the way!

If he is better being led that might help, people are often more sympathetic to a horse in hand as it looks more like you are actively training it I think rather than out for jolly!
 
When I said I got on and off by the bins I meant that I got on by the bins went off an my hack and then got off by them when we got home.
The thing with getting off is that at 16.3 I really struggle to get back on from the ground. (Think lower stirrups by at least 4 holes and then hoik myself ungracefully off the ground) And with all his back and S/I issues at the moment I really don't like doing it.
 
I'd ride him strongly past it in that case as he is just making an issue out of nothing (ie he is not scared in company). Practice leg yielding before you come up to it and use your legs to make him walk past (wait til no traffic in case he does jump).
 
I think by avoiding it you are not helping you or your horse. If I were in your shoes I would be hacking out (if possible) every day or every other day for as long as it takes him to walk past without making a fuss. There are many things you won't be able to avoid in the future so use this as practice.
 
If it's a circular ride can you just go the other way round so the scary stuff is on the far side of the road? If not agree with the poster that said to shoulder in past them.
 
If it's possible, I would try and wait until the road is clear and then trot past as quickly as possible, the chairs are easily sorted, get them your self and dump them somewhere else that isn't going to inconvenience others, but convenient for the council to pick up, or if you know who's they are in their front garden.
 
Nothing wrong in moving to the middle of the road to avoid and object.

But don't make cars wait for you - you must wait for the cars. So don't move out in to the road until the coast is clear.
 
Dont dump the chairs somewhere else... you will be fly tipping then; and if you go and stuff them in the field entrance of a local friendly farmer, who then has to pay to get rid of them... you wont be riding in his fields anymore.

Best as others say, just pick them up yourself and take them to the dump. Or back to the yard and use them in the school!
 
I would go out at dawn on a Sunday morning high vized to the max with a high vized helper on foot that could wave at traffic if necessary. I would then go up and down that bit of road for as long as it took to desensitise him
 
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